Selection of Reserves for Woodland Caribou Using an Optimization Approach

Habitat protection has been identified as an important strategy for the conservation of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus). However, because of the economic opportunity costs associated with protection it is unlikely that all caribou ranges can be protected in their entirety. We used an optimization approach to identify reserve designs for caribou in Alberta, Canada, across a range of potential protection targets. Our designs minimized costs as well as three demographic risk factors: current industrial footprint, presence of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), and climate change. We found that, using optimization, 60% of current caribou range can be protected (including 17% in existing parks) while maintaining access to over 98% of the value of resources on public lands. The trade-off between minimizing cost and minimizing demographic risk factors was minimal because the spatial distributions of cost and risk were similar. The prospects for protection are much reduced if protection is directed towards the herds that are most at risk of near-term extirpation

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

Home: The place the older adult can not imagine living without

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Rapidly aging populations with an increased desire to remain at home and changes in health policy that promote the transfer of health care from formal places, as hospitals and institutions, to the more informal setting of one's home support the need for further research that is designed specifically to understand the experience of home among older adults. Yet, little is known among health care providers about the older adult's experience of home. The aim of this study was to understand the experience of home as experienced by older adults living in a rural community in Sweden.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Hermeneutical interpretation, as developed by von Post and Eriksson and based on Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics, was used to interpret interviews with six older adults. The interpretation included a self examination of the researcher's experiences and prejudices and proceeded through several readings which integrated the text with the reader, allowed new questions to emerge, fused the horizons, summarized main and sub-themes and allowed a new understanding to emerge.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Two main and six sub-themes emerged. Home was experienced as the place the older adult could not imagine living without but also as the place one might be forced to leave. The older adult's thoughts vacillated between the well known present and all its comforts and the unknown future with all its questions and fears, including the underlying threat of loosing one's home.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Home has become so integral to life itself and such an intimate part of the older adult's being that when older adults lose their home, they also loose the place closest to their heart, the place where they are at home and can maintain their identity, integrity and way of living. Additional effort needs to be made to understand the older adult's experience of home within home health care in order to minimize intrusion and maximize care. There is a need to more fully explore the older adult's experience with health care providers in the home and its impact on the older adult's sense of "being at home" and their health and overall well-being.</p

Biology of Francisella tularensis Subspecies holarctica Live Vaccine Strain in the Tick Vector Dermacentor variabilis

Background: The c-proteobacterium Francisella tularensis is the etiologic agent of seasonal tick-transmitted tularemia epizootics in rodents and rabbits and of incidental infections in humans. The biology of F. tularensis in its tick vectors has not been fully described, particularly with respect to its quanta and duration of colonization, tissue dissemination, and transovarial transmission. A systematic study of the colonization of Dermacentor variabilis by the F. tularensis subsp. holarctica live vaccine strain (LVS) was undertaken to better understand whether D. variabilis may serve as an inter-epizootic reservoir for F. tularensis. Methodology/Principal Findings: Colony-reared larva, nymph, and adult D. variabilis were artificially fed LVS via glass capillary tubes fitted over the tick mouthparts, and the level of colonization determined by microbial culture. Larvae and nymphs were initially colonized with 8.860.8610 1 and 1.160.03610 3 CFU/tick, respectively. Post-molting, a significant increase in colonization of both molted nymphs and adults occurred, and LVS persisted in 42 % of molted adult ticks at 126 days post-capillary tube feeding. In adult ticks, LVS initially colonized the gut, disseminated to hemolymph and salivary glands by 21 days, and persisted up to 165 days. LVS was detected in the salivary secretions of adult ticks after four days post intra-hemocoelic inoculation, and LVS recovered from salivary gland was infectious to mice with an infectious dose 50 % of 3 CFU. LVS in gravid female ticks colonized via the intra-hemocoelic route disseminated to the ovaries and then t

The DISC (Diabetes in Social Context) Study-evaluation of a culturally sensitive social network intervention for diabetic patients in lower socioeconomic groups: a study protocol

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Compared to those in higher socioeconomic groups, diabetic patients in lower socioeconomic groups have less favourable metabolic control and experience more diabetes-related complications. They encounter specific barriers that hinder optimal diabetes self-management, including a lack of social support and other psychosocial mechanisms in their immediate social environments. <it>Powerful Together with Diabetes </it>is a culturally sensitive social network intervention specifically targeted to ethnic Dutch, Moroccan, Turkish, and Surinamese diabetic patients in lower socioeconomic groups. For ten months, patients will participate in peer support groups in which they will share experiences, support each other in maintaining healthy lifestyles, and learn skills to resist social pressure. At the same time, their significant others will also receive an intervention, aimed at maximizing support for and minimizing the negative social influences on diabetes self-management. This study aims to test the effectiveness of <it>Powerful Together with Diabetes</it>.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>We will use a quasi-experimental design with an intervention group (Group 1) and two comparison groups (Groups 2 and 3), N = 128 in each group. Group 1 will receive <it>Powerful Together with Diabetes</it>. Group 2 will receive <it>Know your Sugar</it>, a six-week group intervention that does not focus on the participants' social environments. Group 3 receives standard care only. Participants in Groups 1 and 2 will be interviewed and physically examined at baseline, 3, 10, and 16 months. We will compare their haemoglobin A1C levels with the haemoglobin A1C levels of Group 3. Main outcome measures are haemoglobin A1C, diabetes-related quality of life, diabetes self-management, health-related, and intermediate outcome measures. We will conduct a process evaluation and a qualitative study to gain more insights into the intervention fidelity, feasibility, and changes in the psychosocial mechanism in the participants' immediate social environments.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>With this study, we will assess the feasibility and effectiveness of a culturally sensitive social network intervention for lower socioeconomic groups. Furthermore, we will study how to enable these patients to optimally manage their diabetes. This trial is registered in the Dutch Trial Register: NTR1886</p

Familial risk for gastric carcinoma: an updated study from Sweden

Reliable data on familial risks are important for clinical counselling and cancer genetics. However, the estimates of familial risk of gastric cancer vary widely. We examined the risk of familial gastric cancer using the updated Swedish Family-Cancer Database with 5358 patients among offspring and 36 486 patients among parents. There were 133 families with one parent and one offspring diagnosed with gastric cancer, and 20 families with two affected offspring. Familial standardised incidence ratios (SIRs) were 1.63 and 2.93 when parents and siblings presented with gastric cancer, respectively. The high sibling risk was owing to cancer in the corpus (SIR 7.28). The SIR for cardia cancer was 1.54 when parents were diagnosed with any gastric cancer. Cardia cancer associated with oesophageal cancer, particularly with oesophageal adenocarcinoma. Among specific histologies, signet ring cancer showed an increase. A few associations were noted for discordant sites, including the urinary bladder and the endometrium. H. pylori infection, although not measured in the present study, is probably an important risk factor for the high sibling risk of corpus cancer. Familial clustering of cardia cancer is independent of H. pylori infection, and may have a genetic basis. The familial association of cardia cancer with oesophageal adenocarcinoma may provide aetiological clues

IQuaD dental trial; improving the quality of dentistry : a multicentre randomised controlled trial comparing oral hygiene advice and periodontal instrumentation for the prevention and management of periodontal disease in dentate adults attending dental primary care

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Incidence and prevalence of patellofemoral pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Patellofemoral pain is considered one of the most common forms of knee pain, affecting adults, adolescents, and physically active populations. Inconsistencies in reported incidence and prevalence exist and in relation to the allocation of healthcare and research funding, there is a clear need to accurately understand the epidemiology of patellofemoral pain. Methods: An electronic database search was conducted, as well as grey literature databases, from inception to June 2017. Two authors independently selected studies, extracted data and appraised methodological quality. If heterogeneous, data were analysed descriptively. Where studies were homogeneous, data were pooled through a meta-analysis. Results: 23 studies were included. Annual prevalence for patellofemoral pain in the general population was reported as 22.7%, and adolescents as 28.9%. Incidence rates in military recruits ranged from 9.7 – 571.4/1,000 person-years, amateur runners in the general population at 1080.5/1,000 person-years and adolescents amateur athletes 5.1% - 14.9% over 1 season. One study reported point prevalence within military populations as 13.5%. The pooled estimate for point prevalence in adolescents was 7.2% (95% Confidence Interval: 6.3% - 8.3%), and in female only adolescent athletes was 22.7% (95% Confidence Interval 17.4% - 28.0%). Conclusion: This review demonstrates high incidence and prevalence levels for patellofemoral pain. Within the context of this, and poor long term prognosis and high disability levels, PFP should be an urgent research priority

Temporal-Difference Reinforcement Learning with Distributed Representations

Temporal-difference (TD) algorithms have been proposed as models of reinforcement learning (RL). We examine two issues of distributed representation in these TD algorithms: distributed representations of belief and distributed discounting factors. Distributed representation of belief allows the believed state of the world to distribute across sets of equivalent states. Distributed exponential discounting factors produce hyperbolic discounting in the behavior of the agent itself. We examine these issues in the context of a TD RL model in which state-belief is distributed over a set of exponentially-discounting “micro-Agents”, each of which has a separate discounting factor (γ). Each µAgent maintains an independent hypothesis about the state of the world, and a separate value-estimate of taking actions within that hypothesized state. The overall agent thus instantiates a flexible representation of an evolving world-state. As with other TD models, the value-error (δ) signal within the model matches dopamine signals recorded from animals in standard conditioning reward-paradigms. The distributed representation of belief provides an explanation for the decrease in dopamine at the conditioned stimulus seen in overtrained animals, for the differences between trace and delay conditioning, and for transient bursts of dopamine seen at movement initiation. Because each µAgent also includes its own exponential discounting factor, the overall agent shows hyperbolic discounting, consistent with behavioral experiments